Perfect Fifths

Of all the musical instruments of the world, strings are the most popular. Included in this category are guitars, cellos, banjos, lutes and violins. Violins, and violas, are distinct among the string family because they must be played high against the shoulder, with the player’s head locking them into place. This makes performance very difficult as the neck of the instrument is obscured while playing. Like cellos and double basses, violins are usually played with a bow, which helps to smooth out the high pitch of the instrument, while letting the brightness cut through the entire orchestra. This is why violins carry most of the melody in classical music. Violins, because of their small size and lack of frets, require more practice to master than other string instruments. The good news is that there is a vast amount of music written for the violin, ranging from simple and easy to complex and nearly impossible. Guitars, for the sake of comparison, have become the most popular string instrument in the world because of how easy they are to play. Still, the violin has been around for many more centuries than the guitar, and it remains the king of classical string instruments.